sequels Tagged Articles at Cinematical

People who know nothing about horror films still like to take a cheap-shot when they can. They see a film with a 5 or a 6 in the title, and they get all clever: "Wow, part 6 already? Why? Who makes this stuff? Does anyone care anymore?" and all that jazz. Now, before I start ranting proper, I'm not saying that you're WRONG if you don't like the Saw films. I'm just sick of the knee-jerk reactions from people who'd happily mock a "Saw 6," but then run right home to catch the 11th season premiere of "CSI: New Jersey." Matter of fact, that's where I'll start:

It's a Serial!

The massively popular, horror-centric, and entirely silly True Blood is discussed like it's the reinvention of the vampire. (It's not. But it's good.) So far there have been 24 60-minute episodes of True Blood, which equals 1,440 minutes. By comparison the first five Saw films equal about 475 minutes. My point is this: Why should we hear cries of "enough!" on one and "ooooh, more please!" on another? Do the horror geeks not deserve their own equivalent of an "unending" soap opera? Is it fair that people bemoan a Saw 6 yet sit down for General Hospital ... every day for 15 years??

Read the rest over at Horror Squad

By Brad McHargue

Am I the only who thinks 3-D horror films are a waste of time and money?

While some films may lend themselves to the technology (such as Burst, which is about exploding humans), the effect is usually lost on me. In the end, it almost seems like a distraction to prevent the audience from realizing your story is formulaic and conventional. The effect is lost once the film hits DVD, and although Blu Ray technology can emulate 3-D quite well, the overall impact is diminished considerably.

Given the recent spate of horror films being filmed in 3-D, it comes as no surprise that the Saw franchise will venture into the third dimension with 2010's Saw VII. Shock reports that the seventh installment in the seemingly never-ending franchise will feature a longer production time and be more expensive ... due to the conversion to 3-D.

Read more at Horror Squad!

As much as we might like to poke fun at Twilight now and again, there's no denying it's a multimedia juggernaut. Besides the books, you can read about the stars in their off-hours in celeb gossip mags, listen to Twilight-inspired bands like The Bella Cullen Project, read Twilght fan fiction, peep fan art, buy all the Twilight tchotchkes your heart could desire over at Hot Topic or Amazon (like this jewelry box!) and, yes, get inked with Twilight-inspired tattoos.

But unless Stephenie Meyer starts cranking out some more books about Bella and Edward, the four Twilight tomes are going to be the end of Bella and Edward on the big screen... right?

Not necessarily, according to Twilight's producers, who were caught on video by the folks over at RadarOnline.com at the 36th Annual Vision Awards this past weekend. RadarOnline's intrepid reporter tracked down Wyck Godfrey and Greg Mooradian at one of the awards parties and asked them about the possibility of a spin-off about the Volturi family.

For those not in the know -- myself included -- the Volturi family is the big daddy coven of vamps, the "de facto royal family" according to the extensive Twilight wiki. The cast list for New Moon's Volturi clan stands out because it includes Michael Sheen, star of Frost/Nixon, The Queen and Tim Burton's highly anticipated remake of Alice in Wonderland, and future Runaway Dakota Fanning.

While Greg Mooradian played coy, he left the door open for spin-offs depending on how well the saga does in theaters and "[where] the audience demands us to go from there."

With Hollywood's neverending desire to milk every story and success for all its worth, it's easy to assume that no one is impervious from part 2, 3, 4, 10 -- especially A-listers. Part of the reason for their success is starring in successful films, and the better a movie does, the better the chance we'll get at least one sequel. But did you know that some of the biggies have only stuck to numero uno?

Movieline has a great post up about the A-listers who have headed for sequel land, and those that have stayed blissfully away -- and they're not necessarily the actors you'd guess. Some are easy: Brad Pitt and Clooney had those Ocean's films (and does it count that Clooney once got some tomato revenge?). Ben Stiller is all about the sequels. Clint Eastwood got dirty for Harry in 5 films.

But who hasn't return for a part 2? I'll give you one: Denzel Washington. However, the site does point out that the actor is set for an Inside Man follow-up, so his status could change. But can you guess the others? There are 3 actors and 1 actress. Make your guesses below and then head over to Movieline to see if you're right. One of those names will probably be quite a surprise until you think about it. And, is there any sequel-free A-lister they missed?

Back in the VHS days, "direct to video" actually meant something. It meant something BAD, more often than not. The video marketplace allowed a lot of people to make and sell their own flicks, but uh, they were generally pretty terrible. So when someone says "Ugh, I don't wanna rent that. It went direct to video," they're probably dredging up memories of backyard horror flicks or Oliver Gruner action films. But in today's ultra-modern, mega-bandwidth, multi-distributive movie landscape, "direct to video" can mean a whole lot of things.

Take the recent French horror film Inside, which played at festivals all over the world, opened theatrically in several countries, and got a basic (but well-received) DVD release from The Weinstein Company here in the States. So as far as the U.S. is concerned, this is considered a "direct to video" title. Yet it's an awesome film. How can that be? Heard of a little flick called Special, starring Michael Rapaport? Probably not, but if it's a good flick, why does "DTV" even matter anymore?

When you think of DTV, you probably think of low-rent and generally atrocious sequels like American Pie 5: Down to the Crust, Bring It On 6, The Bringening, or Prom Night 2: Sudden Cat Noises. And that's because the video market is a great place to bring in a few bucks from the teenage weekend rentals -- but since when are rotten sequels the exclusive domain of the video stores? (I recall six different Police Academy releases before the seventh one was finally remanded to the video market.) A great example would be the pretty wretched Hills Have Eyes 2 (theatrical release) versus the unexpectedly entertaining Wrong Turn 2 (DVD premiere). I say we should be grateful to the video shelves for cataloging all the flicks we'd probably NEVER go see at the multiplexes -- even if they're movies that even I'd never bother to rent. (I'm lookin' at you, Lost Boys 2.)

This week Disney opens Race to Witch Mountain 31 years after the last Witch Mountain movie, which, to give you a sense of the time, opened in 1978 and featured the top-billed Bette Davis and Christopher Lee as the bad guys! That's a long time ago, but there are lots of other belated sequels to consider. In order of waiting time:

1. Belle Toujours (2006)
Duration between sequels: 39 years
Luis Bunuel made Belle de Jour in 1967 and died in 1983. Lots and lots of years later, the 98-year-old Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira picked up the story thread and re-united the two lead characters. Sadly, original star Catherine Deneuve was either unwilling or unable to re-create her role as the icy Severine, and so Bulle Ogier had to stand in for her. Michel Piccoli once again plays Henri Husson, who years earlier caught Severine in an awkward position -- secretly working daytime hours at a Paris brothel. Now the two elderly characters meet for an equally awkward dinner to discuss -- or not discuss -- what actually happened. Oliveria's work is far more austere than Bunuel's, but it has some delightful and thought-provoking moments.

2. Saraband (2005)
Duration between sequels: 30 years
Bergman created his final masterpiece with this film, re-uniting the now-divorced characters from Scenes from a Marriage (1973), played once again by the great Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. But as in real life, the drama quickly moves on to the younger characters. Bergman shot the film in 2003, but it was not released here until 2005.

Yahoo! Movies has the first look at the trailer for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and yes, all those sassy creatures that moviegoers dug to the tune of $193.5 million in the summer of 2005 are back, and this time... the penguins still seem to be stealing the show (I don't really have anything against the first movie, but the penguin-centric holiday short spin-off was itself far more amusing and, as such, has been included after the jump.)

From the look (sound?) of things, the entire voice cast is back, as lion Alex (Ben Stiller), hippo Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), giraffe Melman (David Schwimmer), and zebra Marty (Chris Rock) try to return home to New York City from the eponymous island on which they were last stranded. Sacha Baron Cohen also appears to be returning to his role as the nutty Julien, king of the lemurs. Those working on the production have been tight-lipped as to whether or not hijinks and/or pop culture references ensue.

With original directors Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath at the helm, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - although they're technically already in Africa - is scheduled to open opposite the latest from James Bond on November 7.

Oh, those crazy Ghost House guys. Just when we thought they'd never produce a good movie, they went the "big boy" route and delivered the icily fantastic 30 Days of Night. It was so damn good, it almost made us forget about previous DH offerings like Boogeyman, The Grudge 2, Rise: Blood Hunter and The Messengers. (OK, so their first flick, The Grudge (remake), wasn't too rotten, but damn if I can remember anything about it.)

So what will the Ghost Housers be doing with some of that 30don money? Churning out a bunch more video sequels, of course! Fangoria brings us the word on a whole bunch of upcoming stuff...

Boogeyman 3 -- Yeah, Boogeyman 2 hits DVD early next year. This one's Part 3. Brian Sieve (Boogeyman 2) is writing the script.

The Grudge 3 -- Toby Wilkins (Kidney Thieves) directs and Brad Keene (The Gravedancers) writes this "culture reversal" sequel.

The Messengers 2 -- Screenwriter Todd Farmer returns for this prequel -- that couldn't possibly be much lamer than the first entry. So that's good news.

Rise 2 -- Gary Jones (Crocodile 2: Death Swamp) directs and Ben Ketai (30 Days of Night: Blood Trails) writes this Liu-less sequel to the witless Lucy Liu vamp flick.

So basically someone at Ghost House decided to make a sequel to EVERY ONE of their films, regardless of quality or actual demand for a sequel. (Check out the Fango report for all the good news.) Here's hoping that the inevitable 30 Days sequel is done with some class ... and a budget.

Yes, there will soon be an Anaconda 3 and an Anaconda 4. But that's not the most amusing news. According to Moviehole, the back-to-back cheapie sequels will star none other than (ready?) David Hasselhoff! Yep, the Hoff will be starring as the hero in a pair of Anaconda sequels. (Logic dictates that Dave does NOT get eaten by a giant snake in the third film.) Co-starring in Anaconda 3: The Offspring will be Crystal Allen, Zoltan Butuc and (who else?) John Rhys-Davies. (Damn, John, did you burn through that Rings money already?)

Both of the flicks are being shot in Romania by Don E. FauntLeRoy, the cinematographer turned director who has no less than three Steven Seagal movies under his belt. (So I'm guessing a pair of Anaconda sequels would actually be considered a promotion for Don.) And it looks like the producers are sticking to the old "search through a snake-infested jungle in search of something valuable" schpiel once twice again. As if you hadn't guessed by now, both flicks will premiere on the Sci-Fi Channel before settling onto dusty video shelves for the next 15 years.

The original Anaconda (1997) starred Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Eric Stoltz, Owen Wilson, Danny Trejo and Kari Wuhrer. The 2004 sequel -- Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid -- starred Johnny Messner, Morris Chestnut, KaDee Strickland and Matthew Marsden. So if Anaconda 3 and 4 star David Hasselhoff and John Rhys-Davies, then I'm guessing Anaconda 5: Big Snake Babies will star someone like Andy Dick and Skeet Ulrich.

Having said all that, I'll rent anything with giant animals and screaming victims. Monster flicks are my true Kryptonite.

Just when you thought there was little to no movement on the do-we-really-need-another-one Terminator 4, comes word from Moviehole that a couple of high-profile actresses might be battling it out to play the lead female. First off, take this all with a grain of salt since it comes via two websites called Celebrity Spotlight and GlobalArnold.com. Since I dig Clint at Moviehole, and trust his opinion, I've decided to link directly to his story (in which he provides links to the original articles). That said, according to whomever, both Rachel Weisz and Chloë Sevigny approached Terminator producers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek at a recent party -- and, apparently, inquired about "the role." I'm not sure what "the role" is, but I assume it's the same character portrayed by Claire Danes in Terminator 3.

Additionally, they also claim that a "high profile hunk has already been cast as the male lead," which most likely means Nick Stahl will not be reprising his role as John Connor. No idea who that could be, but feel free to throw out guesses based on what we already know about the John Connor character and the words "high profile hunk." Fred Savage? Fingers crossed! Another, more interesting (to me, at least) note is that they also mention the following with regards to Weisz's busy shooting schedule: "She is already signed up to star in Peter Jackson's Lovely Bones and next year will start shooting Sin City 2 with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez." Oh really?

First off, when did Weisz sign on for that role (which, in all likelihood, would be that of Ava Lord), and when did Rodriguez solidify a shooting schedule? From what we know, no one is really planning post-strike right now, and even so, Rodriguez has to shoot his Barbarella remake first. So, has Weisz been officially cast? And seeing as she turned down a third Mummy film, what makes you think she'd be interested in a fourth Terminator film? Chloë Sevigny, on the other hand, is super sexy in that "I might kill you after we sleep together" kind of way -- which I really dig -- so go ahead and sign her up. All rumors for now; we'll let you know if anything more concrete materializes.